Authors:Hu X; Li M, Raffa K, et al.Abstract: We investigated the influence of larval instar on the structure of the gut bacterial community in the Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus (Hope; Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The diversity of the gut bacterial community in early, phloem-feeding larvae is significantly higher than in later, wood-feeding larvae. Many of these associates were assigned into a few taxonomic groups, of which Enterobacteriaceae was the most abundant order. The predominant bacterial genus varied during the five instars of larval development. Erwinia was the most abundant genus in the first and fifth instars, Enterobacter was predominant in the third and fourth instars, and the predominant genus in the second instars was in the Enterobacteriaceae (genus unclassified). Actinobacteria were reported in association with M. alternatus for the first time in this study. Cellulomonadaceae (Actinobacteria) was the second most abundant family in the first instar larvae (10.6%). These data contribute to our understanding of the relationships among gut bacteria and M. alternatus, and could aid the development of new pest control strategies.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Li W; Liu N, Wu Y, et al.Abstract: This study used pitfall trapping to examine community composition and diversity of ground beetles in five different habitats (coniferous, deciduous, mixed coniferous, farmland, and settlements) within Anhui Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve from May to September 2014. In total, 1,352 ground beetles were collected, belonging to 16 genera and 44 species. Of these, four dominant species Dolichus halensis, Harpalus pastor, Carabus casaleianus, and Pheropsophus jessoensis were identified, respectively, comprising 370, 177, 131, and 123 individuals. The deciduous forest showed greater diversity (3.78 according to Shannon–Weiner index), equitability (0.80 according to Pielou’s index), and dominance (9.52 according to Simpson’s index) when compared with farmland, but species richness in the deciduous forest (27) was lower than that in farmland (35). One-way analysis of variance showed that ground beetle species composition and abundance among different habitats varied significantly. Cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis showed that farmland shared low community similarity with other habitat types, and coniferous and mixed coniferous forests shared similar community types. Our results indicate that species composition, abundance, and diversity of ground beetles are affected by different habitat types, with deciduous forest types being critical in maintaining the diversity of rare species. We recommend reducing cultivated farmland area and increasing the area of carefully planned deciduous forest in order to better protect ground beetle diversity in the region.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Liu N; Wu Y, Yang X, et al.Abstract: The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Papilio protenor (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) was sequenced and annotated in this study. The mitogenome comprised a typical circular, double-stranded DNA molecule of 15,268 bp in length including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and an A+T-rich region. The gene order and mitogenome orientation were similar to those of all known Papilionidae species. The nucleotide composition of the P. protenor mitogenome exhibits considerable A+T bias (80.5%) and the AT (−0.019) and GC (−0.231) skewness is slightly negative. All of the PCGs except for cytochrome c oxidase (COI) start with a canonical ATN start codon, whereas the COI gene is tentatively designated by the CGA codon. Of the 13 PCGs, 11 contain the complete stop codon TAA or TAG, whereas COI and COII were terminated with a single T nucleotide. All tRNAs exhibit the typical cloverleaf structure, except for tRNASer(AGN), which does not contain the dihydrouridine arm. The 458 bp A+T-rich region is comprised of nonrepetitive sequences including the motif ATAGA followed by a poly-T stretch and a microsatellite-like (AT)6 element preceded by the ATTTA motif. Phylogenetic analysis of the 13 PCGs data using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood methods, and maximum parsimony support the view that the subfamily Parnassiinae is regarded as an independent subfamily within Papilionidae and that Zerynthiini should be treated as one of the two clades of the subfamily Parnassiinae along with Parnasiini. In addition, the analysis strongly supports the monophyly of the subfamily Parnassiinae.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Kranzfelder P; Ekrem T, Stur E.Abstract: Chironomidae (Diptera) pupal exuviae samples are commonly used for biological monitoring of aquatic habitats. DNA barcoding has proved useful for species identification of chironomid life stages containing cellular tissue, but the barcoding success of chironomid pupal exuviae is unknown. We assessed whether standard DNA barcoding could be efficiently used for species identification of chironomid pupal exuviae when compared with morphological techniques and if there were differences in performance between temperate and tropical ecosystems, subfamilies, and tribes. PCR, sequence, and identification success differed significantly between geographic regions and taxonomic groups. For Norway, 27 out of 190 (14.2%) of pupal exuviae resulted in high-quality chironomid sequences that match species. For Costa Rica, 69 out of 190 (36.3%) Costa Rican pupal exuviae resulted in high-quality sequences, but none matched known species. Standard DNA barcoding of chironomid pupal exuviae had limited success in species identification of unknown specimens due to contaminations and lack of matching references in available barcode libraries, especially from Costa Rica. Therefore, we recommend future biodiversity studies that focus their efforts on understudied regions, to simultaneously use morphological and molecular identification techniques to identify all life stages of chironomids and populate the barcode reference library with identified sequences.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Rivera-Ciprian J; Aceituno-Medina M, Guillen K, et al.Abstract: In this study, we examined the activity of two serine proteases (chymotrypsin and trypsin) and two metalloproteases (carboxypeptidases A and B) during larval development in Anastrepha obliqua fed natural (mango fruit) and artificial (formulation used in mass-rearing) diets. Proteolytic activity of chymotrypsin, trypsin, carboxypeptidase A, and carboxypeptidase B was detected in the midgut of different instars of A. obliqua and was strongly affected by the pH and diet type. The protein content of the natural and artificial diets was similar. Enzymatic activity was higher in the midgut of the larvae fed the natural diet than in larvae fed the artificial diet. The activity of the endopeptidases (chymotrypsin and trypsin) was lower than those of the exopeptidases (carboxypeptidases A and B). The pH of the midgut varied from acidic to neutral. The results indicate that in the midgut of the larvae reared on both types of diet, the level of carboxypeptidase activity was approximately 100-fold greater than the level of chymotrypsin activity and 10,000-fold greater than the level of trypsin. In conclusion, carboxypeptidase A and B are the main proteases involved in the digestion of proteins in the larvae of A. obliqua. The natural diet showed a high bioaccessibility. A clear tendency to express high activities of chymotrypsin and trypsin was observed by the third instar. Our research contributes to the planning and development of novel bioaccessibility assays to understand the nutrition processing of A. obliqua larvae under mass-rearing conditions for sterile insect technique.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Cai Z; Chen J, Cheng J, et al.Abstract: Ambient temperature is an important factor limiting the abundance and distribution of insects, and heat shock protein (Hsp) gene expression is sensitive to extremes of cold and heat. In order to explore the role of Hsps during thermal stress and development in Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), we cloned and characterized full-length Hsp genes, including MaHsp60, MaHsp70, and MaHsp90. M. alternatus were exposed to different temperatures (−15, −5, 5, 15, 25, 35, and 40℃) for 1 h and was allowed to recover at 25℃ for 1 h. Following the treatments, we investigated the expression of the Hsps by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. In third instar larvae, MaHsp60, MaHsp70, and MaHsp90 expression was upregulated in response to cold and heat, but the three Hsps were especially sensitive to heat, specifically at 35℃ and 40℃. After heating M. alternatus to 35℃, the expression of MaHsp60, MaHsp70, and MaHsp90 was higher than at 5℃ and 25℃ in nearly all developmental stages. MaHsp60, MaHsp70, and MaHsp90 expression was highest in later pupal, early adult, and early adult stages, respectively. These results suggest that compared with normal ambient temperatures, thermal stress could induce high expression of the three Hsps.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Chen Y; Zhou S.Abstract: In this study, we sequenced fragments of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1), internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) genes from 150 specimens belonging to 16 species of the ant genus Formica from China. Odontoponera transversa from Ponerinae and Polyergus samurai from Formicinae were added as distant relative and close relative outgroups, respectively. Neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian interference methods were used to analyze their phylogenetic relationships based on CO1 gene sequence as well as combined sequence data of CO1 + ITS1, CO1 + ITS2, and CO1 + ITS1 + ITS2. The results showed that nine Formica species (i.e., Formica sinensis, Formica manchu, Formica uralensis, Formica sanguinea, Formica gagatoides, Formica candida, Formica fusca, Formica glauca, and Formica sp.) formed monophyletic clades, which in agreement with the results based on morphological taxonomy. By comparing the results of DNA barcoding and morphological taxonomy, we propose that Formica aquilonia maybe a junior synonym of F. polyctena and that cryptic species could likely existed in Formica sinae. Further studies on morphology, biology, and geography are needed to confirm this notion.PubDate: 2017-11-29

Authors:Farrokhzadeh H; Moravvej G, Modarres Awal M, et al.Abstract: Aphidiinae (Braconidae: Aphidiinae) is a subfamily of endoparasitic wasps specialized in parasitizing aphids. Although, to date, different methods have been used to measure parasitism level, obtaining an accurate estimate remains challenging due to several limiting factors. This study was set to: 1) Compare efficiency of conventional and molecular-based methods in estimating parasitism level of the pomegranate aphid Aphis punicae (Passerini; Hemiptera: Aphididae), and 2) Estimate seasonal activity of the Aphidiinae parasitoids of the pomegranate aphid. The molecular approach (polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) detected the presence of three main parasitoids Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshal; Hymenoptra: Braconidae), Binodoxys angelicae (Haliday; Hymenoptra: Braconidae), and Ephedrus persicae (Frogatt; Hymenoptra: Braconidae). The presence of hyperparasitoid and aphid DNAs did not interfere with the outcome, indicating specificity of the selected primers. Minimum concentrations of DNA needed for successful amplifications were 16.33, 28.65, and 22.65 ng µl−1, for L. fabarum, B. angelicae, and E. persicae, respectively. The level of parasitism was significantly higher in spring (28.42%) than both summer and fall; parasitism level during summer (11.89%) and fall (5.86%) formed a homogeneous statistical subset. Although the overall level of parasitism estimated by PCR (22.7%) was more than twofold higher than those estimated by a conventional counting method (10.5%), there was a strong positive correlation between the two approaches. Provided the potential limitations of either method, simultaneous use of both methods was recommended for an objective estimate of the effectiveness of the Aphidiinae parasitoids as biological control agents of A. punicae.PubDate: 2017-11-15

Authors:Smith H; Nagle C.Abstract: Pyrifluquinazon is a recently commercialized insecticide that interferes with chordotonal receptor neuron function. Eggs, first-instar nymphs, and mid-instar nymphs of Bemisia tabaci Middle East Asia Minor 1 (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) were treated on cotton leaves with 0.057 g. ai./liter Pyrifluquinazon 20 SC in a growth room study. When 5-d-old eggs were treated, there was essentially no survival among emerging crawlers. When crawlers and first instars were treated, survival and development to subsequent instars was drastically reduced compared with the untreated control. Treatment of mid instars had no effect on mortality.PubDate: 2017-11-02

Authors:Borzoui E; Nouri-Ganbalani G, Naseri B.Abstract: The inhibitory effects of Avena sativa L. seed extract were studied on life history and some physiological aspects of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier; Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). The inhibition of α-amylase activity in vitro by A. sativa proteinaceous extract suggested its potential antimetabolic effect on S. cerealella larvae. Although, chronic ingestion of A. sativa inhibitor (I10: 0.108 mg protein/artificial seed) did not show significant reduction of the growth and development of S. cerealella. However, a delay in the developmental time of immature stages was detected when S. cerealella larvae were continuously fed on I30 and I50 concentrations (0.429 and 1.11 mg protein/artificial seed, respectively) of the inhibitor. The highest realized fecundity was recorded for females which came from larvae fed on I10 concentration (102.46 ± 2.50 eggs/female), and the lowest fecundity was observed for females which came from larvae fed on I50 concentration (31.64 ± 3.17 eggs/female). The lightest weight of pupae of S. cerealella was observed on I50 concentration (2.76 ± 0.07 mg). The lowest glycogen and lipid contents of the pupae were detected on I50 concentration (50.00 ± 3.53 and 289.57 ± 29.00 µg/pupa, respectively). The lower survival rate of pupae at low temperature indicated that S. cerealella fed on I50 concentration of the inhibitor was less cold tolerant than control insects. The inhibitory studies indicated that A. sativa proteinaceous extract is a good candidate as an inhibitor of the α-amylase of this pest. This inhibitor can be expressed in genetically engineered plants to confer resistance to S. cerealella.PubDate: 2017-11-01